The Blame Game
by ilovetvalot
Summary: After an eveing goes horribly awry with his intended, Aaron Hotchner finds himself playing a very real Blame Game. THREESHOT!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Hello Readers! We would like to encourage each reader and author alike to participate in nominating their favorite fics and authors for the second annual "Profiler's Choice CM Awards 2011! The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can each be found at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" Forum. To reach that post, please either take a trip to the forum itself OR links are provided on the profile pages of ilovetvalot, tonnie2001969, OR Profiler's Choice CM Awards. Nomination ballots should be pm'd to Profiler's Choice CM Awards ONLY. That link is also provided on the forum or through the profile pages listed above. We look forward to hearing from each of you!_

_In order to get the word out to as many as possible, we ask you, our fellow authors and readers, to let others know of this exciting opportunity. Whether by author's notes or Facebook, please let everyone know that the awards season has begun._

_**Also, the NEW challenge sign-ups for Chit Chat's October Challenge have began! "The Masquerade Challenge" is available now and we'd love to see each of you participate. For our Halloween challenge, participants will be able to choose THEIR OWN PAIRING and will be assigned a Halloween prompt to write. For example if you chose to write Morgan Garcia, you might be assigned the prompt "Godzilla". Maybe Morgan shows up at Garcia's apartment to help her hand out candy dressed as Godzilla or, perhaps, they spend Halloween night happily sequestered in her apartment watching a Godzilla marathon. The ideas are endless! So, come on over and take a look!**_

_And for those just wandering into one of our stories, BOTH ilovetvalot and tonnie2001969 are now on Facebook. Simply friend "Ilovetvalot fanfiction" and/or "Tonnie Fanfiction". We're having a blast getting to know our fellow authors and readers alike. It's a great place to either socialize or get that much needed muse kicking. As of yesterday, we have about 115 of our author and reader friends on our friend list and we'd LOVE to add you!_

_Also, we've posted new interviews with two of our fellow authors, REIDFANATIC and KDSanders at the forum. Stay with us as we visit with some of our favorite writers over the upcoming weeks. If anyone has any suggestions on who they'd like an in depth look at, please PM us._

_As ever, we appreciate every single one of you that takes the time to read and/or review our stories. Your valuable feedback is deeply appreciated and we love hearing from you!_

_And, if we haven't stated it before, we do not own Criminal Minds, but darn, we wish we did!_

_This is for Jessica and SunnyinOregon...and you know why!_

* * *

**The Blame Game**

**Chapter One**

No matter what she said, he was going to choose to blame that damned book. Otherwise, he was going to be forced to blame his newest profiler. Or as he liked to think of her on days like these...the bane of his existence...also known as his future bride. Or she could be known as that at least as long as she didn't manage to kill off the potential groom before the wedding day. Which, unfortunately, was a distinct possibility if she intended to continue what she started last night into today.

Suppressing a shudder, he realized it might be a distinct possibility that he'd attend his own wedding in traction. He was fairly certain that no tuxedo could hide the multitude of casts he was going to end up wearing.

Wincing, he lowered his body gingerly into the black leather executive chair behind his desk, silently cursing a blue streak as the wheels chose that moment to roll, jarring his aching back. "Mother of God!" he hissed through his teeth, shifting carefully in the chair.

"Problems?" a familiarly sardonic voice asked from the open doorway to his office.

Cracking one eyelid and peering at the doorway, Hotch closed his eyes completely as he confirmed the identity of the interloper. Great! All he needed was the Bureau's legendary Lothario mocking him until the end of time. "Shut up and go away," he growled as he attempted to find an as yet unattainable position in his chair. Wasn't this thing supposed to have lumbar support somewhere?

"Is that any way to talk to your best man?" Rossi grinned as he ambled into his friend's office, one arm wrapped around the basket propped on his hip. "Especially when I come bearing gifts?" he continued amiably, walking toward Aaron's desk. Chuckling at the glower blanketing Agent Hotchner's face, Dave dropped into the visitor's chair easily, perfectly balancing the wicker basket on his knees. Cocking his head as he plastered what he hoped was a suitably concerned expression on his amused face, Dave said, "All right, Aaron. What's wrong? Tell Uncle Dave all about it."

"Cute," Hotch muttered, exhaling a shaky breath as he tried to sit up straighter in his chair and failed miserably. Meeting Dave's shuttered gaze, Hotch murmured wearily, "I think she's trying to kill me."

"Who?" Dave asked lightly, knowing damn well who the who in question was. His entire morning had been planned around this informative and delightful visit, after all.

"JJ!" Hotch hissed, his face reddening as he realized sudden movements were a really bad idea.

"Awwww, poor, poor Agent Hotchner," Dave soothed sarcastically, cocking his head. "The poor bastard is getting to go to bed every night with a hot woman ten years his junior and evidently learning how to do things that frighten the fish. I'm so sorry. You've got it rough," Dave snorted derisively, his lips twitching at the flush climbing Aaron's cheeks.

"Oh, shut up!" Aaron grumbled. "This is all Penelope Garcia's fault," he huffed indignantly. Pointing a finger at Dave, he announced, "It's now your job as Best Man to keep that woman and her so-called shower gifts away from my future bride."

"Be the guy that splits up the dynamic duo?" Rossi asked straight-faced, mock horror filling his eyes. "I'd rather face Strauss at gunpoint."

"Coward," Aaron muttered, idly wondering if his medical insurance would cover sex-related injuries. If his current extracurricular activities continued, it wouldn't hurt to check into any possible exemptions. He groaned as one of the muscles chose that moment to spasm. "Fuck the Kama Sutra, Dave. I told JJ I was too old to try to learn any new tricks."

Raising one dark eyebrow heavenward, Dave coughed into his hand to hide his laugher. "What exactly is it that you tried, Aaron?" Dave asked curiously, keeping his voice low.

Pursing his lips, Aaron shot Dave a withering look. "Ever heard of tantric sex?" he asked grimly, barely quelling the shudder he felt creeping over his body at the very utterance of the word.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Dave frowned. "Isn't that the one where neither of you is allowed to move?" Dave asked, shifting the basket from his lap to Aaron's desk.

"Yep. Theoretically," Hotch grunted, massaging his back with one hand as he rummaged for more pain killers in his desk drawer.

"Theoretically?" Dave echoed, his lips lifting slightly as he met Aaron's somber gaze.

"What they don't remind you of in the damn book is that certain muscles flex spontaneously during the experience," Aaron said slowly, clearing his throat as an embarrassed flush climbed his neck.

"Oh, I gotta hear this," Dave chuckled, mesmerized as he propped his chin in his hand and stared at his one-time protégé. Evidently, he should have spent a little time outside the office tutoring the younger man as well.

Closing his eyes as he felt heat flood his cheeks, Hotch replied tightly, "Long story short, I flexed and she bucked."

"Bucked?" Dave repeated, barely able to contain himself as he fought to keep his neutral mask in place. Honestly, he was going to deserve an Academy Award for this performance.

"Like one of those fillies at the rodeo my Dad used to take me to as a kid," Hotch admitted ruefully. "Threw me straight off the bed, Dave!"

"Oh, sweet Lord," Dave said, pressing his fist to his lips in an effort to control himself. Oh, if only he'd had a camera to capture Hotch's expression at this moment!

"I think I heard my spine crack," Hotch reminisced, staring distantly into space. "But that didn't stop her." He shook his head quickly. "She just hopped out of the bed and straddled me..."

"Oh, God!" Dave gasped, burying his face in his hands as his shoulders shook. Finally quelling his amusement, he lifted his head and declared in a choked voice, "You must have felt so violated."

His own lips twitching at them memory, Hotch replied evenly, "Only in that real good way...well, at least until I tried to get off the floor."

Dave's burst of laughter filled the room for several minutes as Hotch sat glaring at his best friend.

"I think I hate you, you know," Aaron announced above the deep chuckles.

Holding up one finger, Dave continued laughing, unable to control himself. Finally gaining his composure, he inhaled, schooling his face into an appropriately solemn expression of concern. "So...this little experiment led to your current predicament," Dave said with a helpless gesture at Hotch.

"What do you think?" Hotch growled, wincing again as his body twitched uncontrollably. "Jesus, Dave! I think she broke him," he said in a worried whisper and a baleful look down at his crotch. "I'm pretty sure that the mast will never rise again. What in the name of God am I going to do?" he asked with a helpless look at his friend.

And smoothing the edges of his goatee, David Rossi's smile widened.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Hello Readers! We would like to encourage each reader and author alike to participate in nominating their favorite fics and authors for the second annual "Profiler's Choice CM Awards 2011! The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can each be found at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" Forum. To reach that post, please either take a trip to the forum itself OR links are provided on the profile pages of ilovetvalot, tonnie2001969, OR Profiler's Choice CM Awards. Nomination ballots should be pm'd to Profiler's Choice CM Awards ONLY. That link is also provided on the forum or through the profile pages listed above. We look forward to hearing from each of you!**_

_**In order to get the word out to as many as possible, we ask you, our fellow authors and readers, to let others know of this exciting opportunity. Whether by author's notes or Facebook, please let everyone know that the awards season has begun.**_

_**Also, the NEW challenge sign-ups for Chit Chat's October Challenge have began! "The Masquerade Challenge" is available now and we'd love to see each of you participate. For our Halloween challenge, participants will be able to choose THEIR OWN PAIRING and will be assigned a Halloween prompt to write. For example if you chose to write Morgan Garcia, you might be assigned the prompt "Godzilla". Maybe Morgan shows up at Garcia's apartment to help her hand out candy dressed as Godzilla or, perhaps, they spend Halloween night happily sequestered in her apartment watching a Godzilla marathon. The ideas are endless! So, come on over and take a look!**_

_**And for those just wandering into one of our stories, BOTH ilovetvalot and tonnie2001969 are now on Facebook. Simply friend "Ilovetvalot fanfiction" and/or "Tonnie Fanfiction". We're having a blast getting to know our fellow authors and readers alike. It's a great place to either socialize or get that much needed muse kicking. As of yesterday, we have about 115 of our author and reader friends on our friend list and we'd LOVE to add you!**_

_**Also, we've posted new interviews with two of our fellow authors, REIDFANATIC and KDSanders at the forum. Stay with us as we visit with some of our favorite writers over the upcoming weeks. If anyone has any suggestions on who they'd like an in depth look at, please PM us.**_

_**As ever, we appreciate every single one of you that takes the time to read and/or review our stories. Your valuable feedback is deeply appreciated and we love hearing from you!**_

_**And, if we haven't stated it before, we do not own Criminal Minds, but darn, we wish we did!**_

* * *

**The Blame Game**

**Chapter Two**

"Well," Dave drawled with a barely-concealed grin, "I think maybe the team and I can help you with that," he said, reaching out his hand to shake the basket in front of his friend. "We all might have noticed that you walked in this morning in a certain degree of...ahem," the older man said, pausing to clear his throat. "How should we describe it? Ah, yes," he said snapping his fingers. "Discomfort."

"Oh, hell," Aaron groaned, the urge to bang his head against his desk only stopped by the fact that he knew the pain in his back would be magnified tenfold. "The team noticed?"

"Aaron," Dave said bluntly, rolling his eyes, "_Everybody _noticed," he emphasized. "You can barely walk."

"Or tie my shoes," Hotch sighed, looking down at his polished loafers with tired eyes. "Jack had to tie them for me this morning," he informed the elder profiler, his voice disheartened by his fall from grace...or rather his nice, comfortable bed.

"Jesus," Dave chuckled, this time letting the humor escape completely. "Pathetic."

"Don't remind me," Hotch muttered, gasping as another spasm shot through his traitorous back.

"At any rate, those that didn't actually see you make your appearance have since been informed by Garcia that she intends to share no culpability in last night's events. Evidently, JJ called her this morning."

"Of course she did," Hotch groaned, wincing. How was it still possible to blush at his age? Nevertheless, a telling flush was spreading across his cheeks...the tingling skin alerting him to the event.

"So, the team collectively decided that since JJ received so many useful gifts at her bridal shower, it was only fair for her groom to share in the bounty as well," Dave explained ever so helpfully, pointedly pushing the basket toward Aaron. "Open 'em."

"Only the bride gets a shower," Hotch replied warily, fingering one of the brightly wrapped packages. "You'd think after three trips down the aisle yourself, Ms. Manners would have sent you that memo."

"Screw Ms. Manners." Dave grinned widely, nodding toward the gifts again, "Open," he ordered, handing Hotch a wrapped blue package. "This one is from Reid."

Deciding that he had better humor the older profiler or risk having his private life shouted from the nearest rooftop or television set, Hotch reluctantly took the small box. Tearing the paper off, Hotch rolled his eyes as Dave smirked. "Epson salt?" Hotch sighed.

"Reid asked me to pass along that this simple salt can restore and rejuvenate those aching muscles of yours...evidently it's what the leading chiropractors all recommend as a first defense against spinal injury."

"Good to know," Hotch stated dryly, catching a pale purple parcel mid-air as Dave tossed it to him.

"From Prentiss," Dave informed him. "I helped her pick it out myself," he added with a wink.

Ripping the gift paper off, Hotch groaned. "Ben Gay. Nice," he griped, leveling his buddy with a nasty look that had quelled lesser men and serial killers alike.

"Hey...don't knock it," Dave chided with a wag of his finger. "My nonna swore by that stuff...and if nothing else, the smell alone might discourage your fiancé."

"If only," Hotch murmured wearily as he dropped the bottle on his desk. "It's got to be her damned hormones..."

"Hormones?" Rossi gaped, his eyes widening as the meaning of that phrase suddenly dawned on him."You don't mean..."

Pressing his lips together, Aaron realized too late what he'd just inadvertently revealed. "Next," he announced firmly, gesturing with his hand as he avoided Dave's suddenly gleaming eyes.

Blindly tossing the younger man another gift, Dave grinned wickedly. "You DOG!"

"Shut up," Aaron muttered, wondering how in the hell he and this jackass had been friends for twenty years. Tearing the seal on the lavender wrapping paper, he groaned. "A heating pad? I think I'm sensing a theme here."

"Hey, that one was Morgan's idea, not mine," Dave chuckled gleefully, clapping his hands. "It gets better," he added as he wriggled his brows, tossing Hotch a bright yellow box with a garish orange bow.

"Oh, God," Hotch said on an exhale of breath. "This is from Garcia, isn't it?" he said, shaking the box gently as he listened for the tell-tale ticking of a time bomb inside.

"It is," Dave confirmed, barely able to control his glee at seeing a man known for his cool composure so close to looking so totally discomfited.

Reluctantly unwrapping the package, Hotch frowned at the seemingly innocent looking white box in his hand. He knew otherwise, however. There was absolutely nothing innocent about his technical analyst or her selection in gifts. And after his first hand experience with her present to JJ yesterday, he was more than a little leery regarding the contents of this one.

"Aaron, I have it on good authority that the contents of that box will not harm you...directly," Dave offered generously.

Opening the box as he stared at Dave in consternation a moment, he finally forced his eyes downward. "Oh, C'mon," he whined, lifting Garcia's donations to this little party in his hands. Holding up a book in each hand, he read, "Sex for Dummies and Finding Your Inner Freak After Forty!" he blustered, nearly yowling as his back protested his movements. "That's it. I'm going to find a way to ban that woman from Barnes and Noble if it kills me!"

"And it might," Dave deadpanned as Hotch's face whitened in pain. "But we're getting off track," he said as Aaron dropped the books on his desk in disgust. "We've still got a couple more goodies. This one's from me," he announced, tossing a rattling bag toward his agitated boss.

Catching it against his chest, Hotch held the gift bag between tentative fingers and looked suspiciously at Rossi. "What did you do?" he asked, narrowing one eye on the sly looking man in front of him.

"Don't be a pussy," Dave ordered with twinkling eyes. "One day you'll thank me for what's in there," he said with a wink, jerking his chin toward the bag.

Warily reaching his hand inside the sack, he extracted the contents slowly, frowning as he realized it was a bottle of pills. "What the...," he began to question, reading the label. Aghast, he jerked his gaze back to a beaming Dave and thundered, "You got me a prescription for VIAGRA?"

"You said the flag wouldn't fly," Dave said as he shrugged, not phased at all by the slightly homicidal look in Aaron's eyes. After all, he'd survived three wives. He only wish he'd videotaped this...Jason Gideon was never gonna believe it when he relayed this conversation...in detail. "I just solved your problem."

"You really ARE an asshole," Hotch stated philosophically as he tried to lean back in his office chair….and failed mightily at the effort.

"Whatever," Rossi commented, scooping the last gift from the basket. "We got one more!" he grinned evilly, shaking the small tin at his ear experimentally, not at all unlike a child with a Christmas gift.

"No!" Hotch shook his head firmly. "No more gifts. Return it," he demanded.

"Oh, hell no," Dave denied, his smile widening as his eyes danced merrily. "I don't even know what's in this one," he said, glancing down at the tiny gift tin, one that usually held a gift card of some sort.

"Who's it from?" Hotch asked, altogether distrustful now of all things David Rossi. Was it too late to find a new Best Man? Or better yet, a new best friend?

Presenting it to the grim man across the desk, Dave said proudly, "Strauss."


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Hello Readers! We would like to encourage each reader and author alike to participate in nominating their favorite fics and authors for the second annual **"Profiler's Choice CM Awards 2011!"** The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can each be found at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" Forum. To reach that post, please either take a trip to the forum itself OR links are provided on the profile pages of ilovetvalot, tonnie2001969, OR Profiler's Choice CM Awards. Nomination ballots should be pm'd to Profiler's Choice CM Awards ONLY. That link is also provided on the forum or through the profile pages listed above. We look forward to hearing from each of you!_

_In order to get the word out to as many as possible, we ask you, our fellow authors and readers, to let others know of this exciting opportunity. Whether by author's notes or Facebook, please let everyone know that the awards season has begun._

_**Also, the NEW challenge sign-ups for Chit Chat's October Challenge have began! "The Masquerade Challenge" is available now and we'd love to see each of you participate. For our Halloween challenge, participants will be able to choose THEIR OWN PAIRING and will be assigned a Halloween prompt to write. For example if you chose to write Morgan Garcia, you might be assigned the prompt "Godzilla". Maybe Morgan shows up at Garcia's apartment to help her hand out candy dressed as Godzilla or, perhaps, they spend Halloween night happily sequestered in her apartment watching a Godzilla marathon. The ideas are endless! So, come on over and take a look!**_

_And for those just wandering into one of our stories, BOTH ilovetvalot and tonnie2001969 are now on Facebook. Simply friend "Ilovetvalot fanfiction" and/or "Tonnie Fanfiction". We're having a blast getting to know our fellow authors and readers alike. It's a great place to either socialize or get that much needed muse kicking. As of yesterday, we have about 115 of our author and reader friends on our friend list and we'd LOVE to add you!_

_As ever, we appreciate every single one of you that takes the time to read and/or review our stories. Your valuable feedback is deeply appreciated and we love hearing from you!_

_And, if we haven't stated it before, we do not own Criminal Minds, but darn, we wish we did!_

* * *

**The Blame Game**

**Chapter Three**

"Strauss?" Hotch moaned loudly, taking the little box from Dave's palm, his gaze drawn unwillingly to the object.

"Strauss." Dave bobbed his head eagerly as he leaned forward, wanting the best view possible for this newest offering. "O-pen it," he begged, almost childishly while he craned his head over the basket.

Cracking the tin hesitantly, Hotch's head tilted almost comically as he viewed the contents."It's an appointment card," he muttered, giving Dave a questioning glance.

"Huh?" Dave grunted as Hotch flipped over the card and his friend's face turned an interesting shade of purple.

"TO HER CHIROPRACTOR!" Aaron's aggrieved voice boomed as his scowl deepened.

"Gimmee that!" Dave said, frankly disbelieving as he took the small white card from Hotch's slack hand. "I'll be damned," he drawled as he examined the writing. "Satan still has a sense of humor after all these years!"

"Oh, shut up," Hotch growled, his body vibrating with pain and tension as he stared down at his now cluttered desk, the remnants of his so-called friend's so-called gifts everywhere. "This is all your fault anyway! I told you that we needed to crash that shower."

"You're just not gonna stop until you win the blame game, are you?" Dave chortled, eyeing the staid Aaron Hotchner's mottled face with no small amount of amusement...or regret.

"So," a sweet, feminine voice queried from Aaron Hotchner's open doorway, "Is this a private party, boys? Or can anyone join?"

"JJ!" Hotch yelped, grabbing the basket and sweeping the incriminating contents off his desk in one smooth motion, yelping "OUCH!" as he moved, his back reminding him of far more than his love for his fiancée. Biting his lip as his eyes clouded with pain, he forced himself to smile at his beautiful partner as she stepped into the office. "What are you doing here, Sweetheart?" he choked even as Dave's laughter filled his ears.

"Well...," JJ smiled, fingering the sash on her simple chic trench coat, "It's noon. I think you said last night that we had an appointment at noon today. Remember?" she said with a seductive smile aimed in her beloved's direction.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Dave grinned widely, looking from Aaron's shocked face to JJ's expectant countenance. "Isn't that interesting," he commented, his voice deliberately bland. "We all know how Aaron feels about keeping his appointments, don't we?" Dave drawled, a malevolent gleam in his dark eyes.

When, Aaron's mind screamed, had he promised her THAT? His agile mind fished for the moment and found it almost at once. Oh, yeah, it had been between that little trick she'd pulled with the ice cube and wrapping one of his silk ties around his...

Oh, hell, he had made her that promise...and many more, he thought with another inner cringe.

"Don't we, Aaron?" Dave prodded again, mentally rubbing his hands together evilly as Hotch's apprehensive eyes collided with his. Honestly, it was like shooting fish in a barrel, Dave thought with unmitigated glee.

"I...oh...yes, of course," Hotch gulped as he felt JJ's heated eyes on him.

"Well, that's my cue, I guess," Dave grinned, wriggling his eyebrows again as he pushed up out of his chair. Turning, he gently patted JJ's arm as he made his voice serious. "Now, be gentle with him, JJ," he offered sternly. "The big bad boss is fragile today," he crowed, kissing her cheek before walking out the door, closing it with a flourish.

Staring after his turncoat of a best friend, Aaron reminded himself to begin searching for a replacement immediately before turning his eyes back to his future wife. "Sweetheart, I don't think..."

"No," JJ shook her head, her long silky locks skimming her shoulders, "Nuh uh. You promised me a nooner, Aaron," she declared, her lips forming a pretty pout as she eyed him hungrily.

Gulping, Aaron stared back into her gorgeous eyes, wincing at the obvious plans he saw mirrored in her gaze. "Honey," he started as he shook his head, "I'm afraid we're going to have to decommission my penis from duty due to hardship issues," he stated gently.

"No pun intended?" JJ smirked, eyeing him with pleasure, raking him from head to toe. "Trust me, I don't think hardship is gonna be an issue," she continued, toying with her belt again as she looked at him through lowered lashes.

"JJ," Hotch warned, beginning to sweat as she tossed her hair over her shoulder, "A man can only handle so much at a given time..."

"Well, since I'm busy at the moment handling being pregnant with our child, so in return, you need to handle me. Preferably from behind," she stated boldly as she winked.

"Honey, Little Aaron can't come out and play today. He fell off the monkey bars at recess last night," Hotch groaned, rubbing a hand over his face as he tried to take a deep breath.

Taking a step back, JJ huffed, "Fine. But you at least have to take a little peek at the other gift Garcia gave me yesterday," she continued, slowly pulling the knot in her belt and sliding her trench coat off her shoulders to pool at her feet.

"Oh, Sweet God," Hotch murmured, his mouth going dry as he looked at JJ's amazingly perfect body. Last night Garcia's gift to his fiancée had threatened to maim him. But today, the wily technical analyst seemed to be determined to deliver him a heart attack. Feeling his groin stirring to life, he gaped.

Standing in front of his office, hands propped on her still slim hips, JJ smiled wickedly. "Well?" she probed, pivoting on her toes to offer him a panoramic view. "What do you think?" she asked curiously, slightly amazed that he had remained silent for the last thirty seconds.

Blinking as he drank in the sight of the fiery, tempting vixen in front of him, he shook his head. Clad in a black lace teddy with matching silk stockings and garters, she was a fantastic vision to behold. And that sinful smile she wore only enhanced the overall effect. "There are no words," he said hoarsely, his eyes glued to the plunging neckline of her sexy outfit that seemed to blaze a trail to treasures he so dearly wanted to find again.

"She really outdid herself, didn't she? She even suggested a naughty position for us to try," JJ whispered with a lust filled look at him, her lips curling ever so slightly. "I think she called it The Cat."

His blood chilled at that little proclamation. Oh, yes, their coworker had indeed outdone herself…and outsmarted him. Again.

"So..." JJ smiled as she retrieved her coat from the floor and slipped it back over her body, "Are you coming home for lunch with me or not?"

Swallowing hard, Hotch slowly nodded. "Of course," he said with a smile, serendipitously sliding the Ben Gay from the basket by his feet into his pocket. "Lead the way," he murmured as he grinned, rising with no small amount of trouble and hobbling after his excited future bride.

Evidently, the blame game would have to wait. But then again, who was he really kidding? Penelope Garcia had already stacked the deck…and he was certain that her skills would result in him and JJ drawing aces for the rest of his life.

Finis


End file.
